For the Love of Harry
by jahacopo2221
Summary: The summer after Harry's fifth year. Albus Dumbledore reveals some interesting info. A Severitus style fic. Warning: Includes abuse, both implied and written. 2 Oct 2006see author's profile for more info
1. Chapter 1: 4 Privet Drive

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Harry Potter universe, nor do I make any claim to them. I am just borrowing them for my own enjoyment. I am in no way whatsoever getting any sort of monetary benefit. Its all for fun.

Chapter One: #4 Privet Drive

It was nearing midnight on the 30th of July, and all was quiet in the house on Privet Dr. Not a single light shone through the windows. A casual observer would most likely believe that all the occupants of that house were sleeping soundly, considering the lateness of the hour, and the noticeable lack of activity. They would be wrong. There were at least two people awake in the house. One, a scrawny 15 yr old (about to be 16), with messy dark hair, and brilliant emerald green eyes, behind an often broken pair of glasses. The other was a very corpulent, balding man with a purple face. The man's face was purple due to the exertion of the activity he was currently engaged in—alternately beating and raping his nephew.

Harry Potter was doing his best not to cry, for he knew that this would only get his uncle more excited. So Harry did the only thing he could think of—he withdrew into his own mind, trying desperately to recall happy memories, trying not to think of the pain and suffering being inflicted upon his poor broken body. He knew that he probably had at least a couple broken ribs, a broken wrist, ankle, jaw, and collarbone, not to mention the lacerations and bruises that covered just about every inch of his body. _Stop thinking about that, _he thought to himself. _Think about Quidditch_, _Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Remus, Sir…no don't think about Sirius, that hurts too much, I can't handle that now_. Harry struggled, but the happy thoughts wouldn't come. _Maybe I should think about nothing—clear my mind._ Harry worked at blanking out everything, and just focusing on fog in his mind. It seemed to work, he could hide in the fog, and not feel anything. _Maybe this is what Snape meant during the Occlumency lessons?_ Harry jerked back to consciousness when he heard a tapping at his window. He blinked and looked around. Uncle Vernon was gone, and there was bright sunlight streaming into his room to taunt him with its cheerfulness. A quick glance at his watch told him that it was now 10 in the morning. It was now July 31st, his 16th birthday. Not that he had anything to celebrate. He went to the window, and several owls flew in. Harry went to relieve the owls of their burdens, and all but one flew out again. Hedwig, his beautiful snowy owl, looked at him with what seemed to be concern.

"Better clear out of here, Hedwig. Uncle Vernon will kill you, then me if he sees you again. Go stay with Hermione; she'll take care of you. I'll write a letter explaining things to her."

_Dear Hermione,_

_**H**ey, how's your summer going? **E**verything is pretty much the same here. I just received my letter from Hogwarts, but I haven't had a chance to read it, so I don't know yet how I did on my OW**L**s, but I'm certain that you achieved Outstanding on every single one. I admit I'm worried about my **P**otions score. I really need an O, so that I can be an Auror, like my father. Its **MY** destiny, I know it. I can't reveal more to yo**U**, **N**ever know who might inter**C**ept this **L**etter. I can't wait for the summ**E**r to be over. **I**'m probably the only teenager to ever **S**ay this. I haven't told you **G**uys, but y**O**u are the truest fr**I**e**N**ds ever, and I appreciate you **G**uys more **T**han y**O**u will ever **K**now. **I** wonder who the new DADA teacher wi**LL **be? **M**y hop**E**s are that Remus can teach us again, but who knows? I really want to talk to him—he's my last link to my parents, and to Sirius. Give a shout out to everybody for me—I'm entrusting Hedwig to your care—she'll be safer there, than here with me._

_Always your friend,_

_Harry_

Harry rolled up the parchment, hoping that Hermione would get the subtle message within his letter. He stood a better chance with her than with Ron. Ron would never pick out the subtleties; he would just read from the surface.He then attached the scroll to Hedwig and sent her on her way.

Harry then turned his focus to the mail he had received. First, he opened his Hogwarts letter. _Bad news first,_ he thought.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_Enclosed are your results from the Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations that you sat earlier this summer. The theory and where applicable, practical examination scores have been combined to give your overall score for that class. Please use these results to select which NEWT level courses you would be best suited for._

**_Astronomy_**

_Theory: Exceeds Expectations (E)_

_Practical: Acceptable (A) _

_Overall: Exceeds Expectations (E)_

**_Care of Magical Creatures_**

_Theory: Outstanding (O)_

_Practical: Outstanding (O)_

_Overall: Outstanding (O)_

**_Charms_**

_Theory: Outstanding (O)_

_Practical: Outstanding (O)_

_Overall: Outstanding (O)_

**_Defense Against the Dark Arts_ **

_Theory: Outstanding (O)_

_Practical: Outstanding (O)_

_Overall: Outstanding (O)_

**_Divination_**

_Theory: Acceptable (A)_

_Practical: Acceptable (A)_

_Overall: Acceptable (A)_

**_Herbology _**

_Theory: Exceeds Expectations (E) _

_Practical: Exceeds Expectations (E)_

_Overall: Exceeds Expectations (E)_

**_History of Magic_**

_Theory: Acceptable (A)_

_Overall: Acceptable (A)_

**_Potions_**

_Theory: Outstanding (O)_

_Practical: Exceeds Expectations (E)_

_Overall: Outstanding (O)_

**_Transfiguration_**

_Theory: Outstanding (O)_

_Practical: Outstanding (O)_

_Overall: Outstanding (O)_

_Astronomy practical examination graded on curve due to outside interferences beyond student's control._

_Highest COMC score for students this year. _

_Highest DADA score ever achieved for a student sitting either OWL or NEWT exams. Examiner particularly impressed with student's ability to readily produce a corporeal Patronus._

_Student failed to complete examination due to factors beyond the student's control. Student graded based off of what had been completed so far._

_Congratulations, Mr. Potter you achieved a total of 9 OWL's: 5 O's, 2 E's, 2 A's. You are ranked 4th in your year, and 2nd in your House. Keep up the good work._

Harry couldn't believe what he read. They had to have made a mistake. There was no way that he'd done so well, especially with everything distracting him. Hermione would be thrilled when she found out. He even got an O in Potions! He could still be an Auror! He had just started to open the letters and packages that he knew were from Ron and Hermione, when he heard the door slam downstairs. Hastily shoving his Hogwarts letter in his pants pocket, and throwing everything else in his hiding place, under the loose floorboard beneath his bed, he straightened up just in time for the last lock to be unlocked on his door, and his uncle came roaring in.

"Boy! It's your fault. I got a reprimand at work today! Its all your fault you worthless freak! Look at me when I speak to you! You need another lesson in manners boy!" Harry looked up at his uncle dully. "What in bloody hell is going on with you freak? Why do you look like that?" _Because you beat me, moron, did you not think I wouldn't have bruises? _"Answer me boy! Did you do magic in my house? I won't have your freakishness infecting us! I'll beat it out of you yet, then you can look like you again!"

With that said, Vernon threw the boy onto the cot-like bed, and started to undo his trousers. Harry immediately started to think about the fog, hiding in the fog was all he wanted to do. Then out of nowhere, a fist came flying into his face. "LOOK AT ME! YOU FREAK!" On and on it continued for the next several hours. Mercifully after two hours, Harry stopped feeling anything at all. He didn't even have to think about the fog. He just slipped into the warm inviting blackness that threatened to consume him.


	2. Chapter 2: Discovering the Horror

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own any of the wonderful characters of the Harry Potter universe. Unfortunately. I am just borrowing them for my own enjoyment, and can not/will not make any money whatsoever from the use.

Chapter Two: Discovering the Horror

Hermione Granger was sitting at her desk going over her OWL results over and over. #1 in the year! She couldn't wait to tell Harry and Ron. She started to wonder how her friends did. Especially Harry—with all that went on last year, she wondered how he had anytime to study. Just then she heard a tapping on her window. She looked over, and recognized Hedwig, Harry's owl. Opening the window, she let Hedwig in, and reached over to take the scroll of parchment off of the extended leg. First glance through the letter seemed like a typical Harry letter, in his usual untidy scrawl. Then she noticed that some of the letters seemed to be darker and larger than others. She decided to write them out to see if they might mean something. She knew Harry's family often censored his letters, or maybe Harry was worried the letter might end up in the wrong hands, possibly the Dark Lord's. Grabbing a quill and a spare bit of parchment, she copied down the weird letters.

H-E-L-P-M-Y-U-N-C-L-E-I-S-G-O-I-N-G-T-O-K-I-L-L-M-E.

With a gasp she realized what was written. For a split second she panicked. How could she help Harry? What if it was too late? Who could she tell? Should she tell her parents and let the Muggles deal with it? But maybe the Dursleys would try and bluff. She had to do something. Then it hit on her. A professor should be able to help. She could send a letter with Hedwig to Hogwarts. One of the professors would be better at handling this.

_Dear Professor,_

_Please somebody has to go help Harry Potter. He is in serious trouble. I just got a letter from him, and he encrypted it with a message. I am enclosing the letter, but for the sake of expediency, I will tell you what the message is. HELP. MY UNCLE IS GOING TO KILL ME. Please, please help him. I'm very afraid that it might be too late. If you don't know where he lives, ask Headmaster Dumbledore. Please hurry!_

_Hermione Granger_

"Okay Hedwig. Take this to the first Hogwarts professor you see. Make sure they read it right away! Harry could be seriously injured!"

Hedwig flew off as fast as her wings could carry her. She made the flight to Hogwarts in record time, and flew immediately into the Great Hall. It appeared that there was only one solitary professor lingering over a late breakfast. Professor Severus Snape. Hedwig knew that her master didn't like him, but her orders were any professor, so she flew over to the brooding potions master and dropped herself right in front of him.

Professor Snape looked up as the snowy owl flew across the hall towards him. His eyes narrowed a bit as he tried to place the creature. He knew he'd seen it before. Then it hit him, at the same time the bird landed in front of him, he recognized Potter's owl. Then he noticed the bird sticking its leg out with the rolled up parchment attached. _Why is Potter sending him a letter? Probably a prank. Well, he wasn't going to be fooled._ He went to stand and leave the table, when the ruddy owl flew right into his face, making quite a racket. "Oh alright, give me the bloody letter!" he snarled. He unfurled the scroll and as he read a range of emotions flitted across his face. Annoyance, irritation, disbelief, concern, worry, all fought with each other. By the time he was done reading the brief message, as well as glancing at the original message, to verify that the Granger girl wasn't misreading the situation, his face had lost all color whatsoever, and his hands were trembling. He took off at a sprint for the headmaster's office and barged right in without knocking.

"Really Severus! You should knock before barging in on other people's conversations" Minerva McGonagall sniffed. Albus just looked at him, concern evident in those twinkling blue eyes. "Severus? Is there something wrong, child?"

"Its Potter headmaster. I just got a frantic message from Granger. He wrote her a letter saying that his uncle was going to kill---" He broke off as an alarm started clanging in the office. Albus and Minerva were on their feet at once. "What is that noise, Albus" Severus asked. "The alarms are linked to Harry's life force. When they go off, it means he is very close to death indeed."

All three professors took off running for the entrance, so they could get to the apparition point and rescue their savior.

With three distinct pops, they appeared on the lawn of #4 Privet Drive. Dumbledore immediately knocked on the door. A horse-faced wisp of a woman answered. "Who are you, what do you want, and why are you dressed like that?" The headmaster drew himself up to his full height, and cold fury seemed to radiate around him. "Who we are is none of your concern, we are here for Harry. Stand aside, Petunia." With that said, all three rushed into the house, wands drawn, just in case.

"Where is Harry, Petunia?" "In his room, top of the stairs, on the right" she whispered. They rushed up the steps and stopped amazed when they saw the door to the room of the Boy-Who-Lived. There had to be at least 20 locks on that door, and a cat-flap for passing food through. Dumbledore raised his wand, "Alohamora" and pushed the door open. When the 2 wizards and 1 witch stepped into the room, they almost retched from the sight and smell. Huddled in the corner of the room was a small mass of clothes that seemed to be twitching slightly. Severus, of the three the most used to the smells of torture, stepped over to the bundle of clothes. He, the hardened Death Eater, almost passed out when he saw the boy. It was Potter, recognizable only by the damned scar. The rest of him was covered in bruises and blood. He barely seemed to be breathing. When Snape called his name, he opened his eyes for a brief second. "Professor?" he asked weakly. "Yes, Harry, we're here to get you away from here. Where's your stuff?" "Wand...pocket...trunk...dunno...maybe cupboard...stairs...letters...loose...floor...under...bed." and with that said he passed out. Severus scooped up the boy, wondering when the last time the boy ate and swept past a stunned McGonagall and furious Dumbledore. McGonagall gained her senses back, and started gathering Harry's belongings from the various places he mentioned, and she too left the house. When she arrived to Hogwarts, she dashed to the infirmary, where Severus was already shouting for Madam Pomfrey. He gently placed the boy on the bed, and stood there waiting for the mediwitch to get there.

"Severus, what...?" Madam Pomfrey's voice trailed off as she took notice of the twitching bundle of rags laid out on one of the beds. "Who is this and what happened to him?" her voice now brisk and businesslike as she hustled about trying to assess her patient and stabilize his condition.

"Its Potter, Poppy. His relatives did this to him." Snape spat out the word relatives as if it was akin to a curse word. At that point they were joined in the Hospital Wing by the Headmaster and McGonagall.

"How is he Poppy?" asked the Headmaster, his eyes devoid of their perpetual twinkle, his voice laden with sorrow.

"His condition is very critical, I won't lie to you. He might not survive the next couple hours. I feel, though that if he makes it through the next 24 hours, he should be able to recover, physically at least. From what I've been able to ascertain, his injuries include 5 broken ribs, 1 cracked vertebra, broken wrist, jaw, collarbone, and ankle. Not to mention the fact, that he is literally covered in cuts, bruises, and welts, all over his body. I am afraid also that Mr. Potter has been violated sexually quite recently, perhaps in the last few hours." The last part was spoken in no more than a whisper, but it reverberated in the minds of the three who heard it as if it were shouted.

Minerva McGonagall had tears streaming down her face as she asked the room in general, "How could we have not known? How could we fail him?"

"It was I who failed him, Minerva. I should have listened to you all those years ago, and never left him with them. I did what I thought was best for all involved." With that said, Albus rested his eyes not on the poor broken teenager laying unconscious, but on his tall, pale Potions master.

"Albus, it is not your fault anymore than it is mine or Minerva's. We all share equal blame. You, at least did what you thought was best in the name of protecting the boy. He needed to be with blood relatives for the wards to work. Minerva and I should have recognized what was going on. Minerva, as his head of house, and I, more so, should have the blame on my shoulders. I had glimpses of his home life through Occlumency, but I refused to believe what I saw. I couldn't let my image of the arrogant son of James Potter be tarnished. I refused to see what was right in front of me." Severus choked out the last part, in a rare show of emotion for the typically aloof professor.

"Ah, Severus child, don't you see, I am truly the one to blame here. Yes, the wards needed the protection of a blood relative, but the Dursleys weren't, and still aren't, the only blood relatives he has alive. There was one other person, I could have left him with, but I believed at the time, that his mother's sister, and her family would be the best choice."

"Albus, what do you mean? You told me all those years ago that the Dursleys were the only family he had left. Who could you have left him with? To the best of my knowledge, Petunia remains the only Evans left, and the Potter line is extinct with the exception of young Harry." Minerva McGonagall questioned confusedly.

"Ah, you see, that's where you're mistaken. Harry is not the last of the Potter family. He is not the last, because he is not a Potter by blood." Dumbledore replied.


	3. Chapter 3: Revelations

Chapter Three: Revelations

At this, Severus Snape started to pale, then started to shake with barely controlled emotion. "Do you mean to say that Harry is..." his voice cut off, choked by emotion.

"Yes, my child," Albus answered, tears streaming down his face, "I promised Lily all those years ago. I helped aid in the deception, along with James."

"Would somebody please explain to me what is going on?" Minerva asked, with faint exasperation mingled with confusion.

"Allow me. Minerva, do you recall my school years?" At her nod, Severus continued, "then you would remember what happened in my fifth year, regarding Lupin? Well, after the incident, I had started to have some trouble in a couple of my classes—mainly due to the fact that I was unable to pay attention in those classes that also contained those that styled themselves "Marauders". One of those classes was Charms. Albus assigned me a tutor, namely one Lily Evans. Over time, we developed a sort of friendship. A friendship that grew into more, so that by the middle of our seventh year, we were seeing each other secretly. Obviously, it wouldn't do for the scion of a family of Death Eaters to be seeing a 'Mudblood' witch. James Potter was like a brother to Lily, and agreed to help aid in our deception. Publicly, Lily was with James, but in reality, she and I were together. More than that, though, I believe we were soul mates. Shortly after our graduation Lily and I were married in a secret ceremony, presided over by none other than Albus. Our witnesses were few—just those that knew what was truly going on. Interestingly enough, that included all the 'Marauders' save Peter Pettigrew. Two weeks later, James and Lily were 'married' in a much more public ceremony—one that I'm sure you were one of the guests?" Minerva nodded at this. " We lived together for over a year, so happy and blissful. Then something happened one day. To this day, I still don't know, though by what has been said tonight, I'm sure Albus has a pretty good idea, and perhaps he will enlighten us. All I know is that my beloved wife left me, and went to live with James Potter—the man who was supposed to be my friend, supposed be helping protect us. I was angry and felt betrayed, more so when about 8 months later, Lily had a baby, a baby that was the spitting image of James Potter. I instantly believed that she had cheated on me, even before she left me. I was devastated. I continued on with my duties to the Order, and spying on the Dark Lord, and I was the one who informed Albus of the threat to the Potters. No matter how betrayed I felt, I still loved her, and didn't want to see her killed. To be honest, I gave no thought to Potter or the baby, only Lily. Then, he came and killed them, but not that baby. It hurt—why not a baby, why my Lily? How could she so carelessly give her life for something that hadn't been in her life that long? Why couldn't she have felt like that for me?" These were the thoughts that have run through my mind the last fifteen years. I had thought I was over it, until Harry came to Hogwarts four years ago. Seeing him, a miniature James Potter, with her eyes, my Lily's eyes, brought back all those feelings. That more than anything, is the reason why I've treated the boy the way I have, and also the reason why I've felt compelled, against my wishes, to watch over the boy. Yes, Minerva, that played a big part in those detentions—if he was in detention with me, then he was safe, and not getting into trouble somewhere. You have to admit, he attracts trouble like a magnet. I saved him from Quirrell's jinx on his broom, I ran after him when he and his friends went tearing after Sirius Black in his third year, even jumped in front of that bloody werewolf. Now, Albus is trying to tell us, tell me, that he knows more about Harry than he has ever let on to either of us. I, for one, demand an explanation." Severus crossed his arms, and glared at the Headmaster.

"Me too," came an exceedingly weak voice from a bed.

The four adults in the room jumped, and looked over to the bed that Harry was laying on. Madam Pomfrey was the first to recover from her shock, and bustled over to her patient. "Mr. Potter, you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by a train or two. And yes, I've been awake for a bit now, and I've heard most of Professor Snape's story. I want to know what's going on!" Harry's voice rose in volume as he spoke, and his face flushed feverishly.

"Calm down Mr. Potter! You've had quite a few severe injuries. You'll do yourself more harm than good by getting excited. Here, take this potion and sleep, you can question the Headmaster later." With that, Poppy went to pour the combination Calming Draught/Sleeping Draught down Harry's throat. Harry, however, clamped his mouth shut, and refused to open it. Poppy looked over at the other three professors for assistance.

"Poppy, is he stable for now?" Albus asked. At her reluctant reply in the affirmative, he said, "then he can hear this, for it concerns him, and he has a right to know. However, as soon as I say what I have to say, Harry, you are going to take whatever potions Madam Pomfrey gives to you, no questions, no resistance. You can ask whatever you need to tomorrow, after you've had rest. Your body needs to be able to heal, and it won't unless you rest yourself. Right now, before I go further, you will take a Calming Draught—not to make you sleepy, but to relax you so that you don't overexcite yourself, and worsen your injuries."

Harry nodded his reply, and opened his mouth for the proffered potion. Feeling very relaxed and calm, he lay back and looked at the Headmaster expectantly.

"Severus, Harry, I apologize for not revealing this knowledge earlier. Harry, if I had known about the Dursleys, I would have broken my pledge to your mother long ago. You should never have had to endure what happened to you. I will never forgive myself," Albus continued with tears streaming down his beard, "nor will I ask for your forgiveness, either of yours. Severus, when you and Lily were married, neither of you discussed having children, did you?" Severus shook his head. "Yes, I thought as much, based on what Lily told me. A little short of a year into your marriage, she came to me quite distraught. She told me she was pregnant, and she didn't know what to do. She told me that she was afraid—no, not afraid of you Severus, but afraid _for_ you, afraid for herself, and most of all, afraid for the child she was carrying. She knew of the risk you were taking by being married as it was, and she knew of the stress it put on you in your dealings with Voldemort. She was afraid of bringing a child into that world. She was afraid that Voldemort would discover that you had a child, a child with a muggleborn witch, and that you would be punished. She feared that you would be discovered as a spy, and possibly killed. Another fear was that Voldemort would try to take the child, knowing that the firstborn of all Death Eaters are sworn to him. She was considering abortion when she came into my office, asking for my advice, and the thought was killing her. She loved you so much already, Harry. You were the product of herself and her soul mate. The thought of getting rid of you was tormenting her, but she could see no other way out of it. I then revealed to her the prophecy. Harry here already knows it, but its time that you do as well, 'THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES...BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT...AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HANDS OF THE OTHER, FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES...THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...' I realized that this child could be the one the prophecy spoke of, and I couldn't allow Lily to abort the pregnancy, but more than that, I knew it would kill her as well to do so, and I always looked on her as a surrogate daughter, and it would have killed me as well. So, it was I who reminded her of her 'marriage' to James, reminded her that we had a fail-safe already built in place for this. She could be with James, and the child could be his. A glamour could be placed upon the babe when born, replacing Severus' features with James'. She began to see a light at the end of the tunnel. But she asked, 'what about Severus?'. It was I who told her not to tell you. We both feared that if you knew the truth, Voldemort might break down your mental defenses and get it from you. However, if you knew the child only as the product of a union between Lily and James, there would be nothing to find. More so, if you believed Harry was James', you would harbor no feelings for him, in fact, all that Voldemort would be able to see would be bitterness and hate, feelings that would be proper for a Death Eater. I believe it was that very day that she spoke with me, that she left you, not taking a chance that her strength would fail her, and she would breakdown and tell you what should have been the happiest news of your life. She and James fully intended to tell you once Voldemort was gone for good. She didn't want to give up on her family. She acknowledged however, that harm might still come to her. She wrote letters to both of you, explaining everything. She sent them via time-delayed owl post to be delivered on Harry's 16th birthday. I believe that is when the glamour was supposed to wear off."

"I did receive a number of letters today, Professor Dumbledore, but the only one I had a chance to look at was my OWL results, before my uncle..." his voice trailed off at the memory, and tears started to stream down his face.

"Harry, oh Harry," whispered Severus. He walked the few feet to the bed, and sat down on it, gathering his son in his arms. He gently rubbed circles on the boy's back, and whispered soothing words in his ear until the teenager stopped crying. He then laid his son back on the bed and summoned the potion that Madam Pomfrey had tried to give him earlier.

"Take this, Harry, get some rest, we'll talk more in the morning." The exhausted boy only nodded his head in reply, and drank the potion. He fell asleep almost instantaneously.

"Alright, you three, Mr. Potter, needs his rest. I will summon you when he wakes up." Madam Pomfrey made shooing gestures with her hands to rid her Hospital of the three professors. The Headmaster and Professor McGonagall turned to leave, but Severus stayed in his seat by Harry's bedside. He looked up at the other two, and the mediwitch. "I'm not leaving him alone tonight. I'm going to be there for my son, for once in his life, when he needs me." The other three bowed their heads and left the potions master alone with his son.


	4. Chapter 4: A New Beginning

For Disclaimer info, please see chapter 1 or 2. Thanks to all my reviewers so far for your encouraging words. This is my first attempt at this kind of thing. I'll do my best to update in a timely manner. :)

Chapter 4: A New Beginning 

Severus Snape sat in the darkened infirmary, next to the only occupied bed in the place. A bed that shouldn't have been occupied this time of year, and certainly shouldn't have been occupied by one injured such as his son was. _His son. _Snape still couldn't get his mind around those words. He could maybe accept that the poor broken child laying in front of him was his son, due to revelations of the night, but he definitely couldn't reconcile that this abused child was Harry Potter. That Harry Potter was—no, is his son. He was glad that the child was asleep, and that Minerva, Albus, and Poppy had left them. He needed time to think this through. This changed everything.

Just a few short hours ago, he had been content in his 'knowledge' that Harry Potter was the son of the man who betrayed him with his wife, and that he enjoyed a pampered life as a celebrity with his aunt, and her family. He had felt secure in believing that Potter was just like his father, and was just as carefree, reckless, and arrogant. He had been confident that he and Harry Potter would have little to no contact in the next couple years, sure that the boy would never have received the required Potions score on his OWL to be admitted to his NEWT Potions class. But yet, here he was, at the bedside of the child, having rescued him from the clutches of his relatives. Relatives that most definitely did not pamper him, in fact, the complete opposite was their treatment of him. He had also discovered that his beloved Lily did not betray him, as he had so long believed. Her child was in fact, his child as well. And for this news to come out at a time such as this, when the boy was going to need someone to lean on. Severus didn't know if he could handle this. Sixteen years of being a snarky bastard were going to be difficult to leave behind. Especially in regards to Harry Potter. He couldn't change his treatment of the boy, especially not in front of his Slytherins, the majority of whom would go running off to their parents to report what they would see as his treason. How could he possibly construct any kind of relationship with a child who was the sworn enemy of the Dark Lord, who only knew him as a loyal servant, not as the spy he truly is. Indeed, his entire world just came crashing down around him. How on earth was he supposed to go about his life, and reconcile all the different aspects of it? For now though, he would sit at the bedside of the child that Lily and he had created, the one she gave her life for, and the one that he knew somewhere deep down, in a place he didn't often visit, that he would die for as well. Later, he would talk with Albus and Minerva. Tomorrow he would talk with Harry. But at this point, he didn't see how a relationship, correction, a pleasant relationship with his son was possible.

After exiting the Hospital wing, Minerva and Albus made their way to the Headmaster's office to discuss the recent turn of events.

"Albus, I can't believe you kept that information from Severus, not to mention Harry! And even after I told you not to leave the boy with those people. Did I, or did I not express my concerns when you left him there? You told me it was the only option. Lily's promise aside, I would think you would know better. You heard Lily and James mention her family, and how her sister detested magic. You knew Lily would have never wanted her son brought up there, even if it meant you had to break some silly promise to her!"

"Peace, Minerva! I am well aware of the mistakes that I have made! I feel Harry's suffering most acutely. I have loved that child since he was born. Do you not think that I feel guilty? The most I can do is ask forgiveness from Harry, and from Severus. Errare humanus est."

"Yes, to err is human, but to forgive is divine, and I'm not sure if either Severus or Harry will be much in touch with their inner deity anytime soon."

"I know, I have sorely tried Harry's trust and faith in me. First with the prophecy, and now this."

"Well, Albus, I won't beat a dead horse about this. What's done is done, and cannot be changed. We must now work towards helping those two. You do realize the predicament this puts them into now?"

"Yes, if it were to come out, Harry will be more of a target than ever, and Severus' position as a spy will terminate, and his life forfeit in the eyes of Voldemort."

Just then, a tiny, hyperactive owl came flying into the office, and landed in front of the headmaster.

_Dear Headmaster,_

_Did somebody go check on Harry? Hermione owled me, when Hedwig came back an hour ago without any news. Please, sir, if nobody has gone yet, its important that you know. I, and my brothers Fred and George, think that his family abuses him. They lock him in his room, and only occasionally pass a can of soup to him through the door. The only reason I know, is, sometimes Harry has nightmares and cries out in his sleep. I have never confronted him, because he gets angry and closed off whenever Hermione or me bring up the subject of his family. Mum and Dad have said that Harry can come stay here at The Burrow with us, if its okay with you. Harry is my best friend and I worry about him, and so do they. Please, sir, let us know about Harry. We're all going out of our minds with worry._

_Ron Weasley_

"Well, Minerva, it seems we forgot to notify Miss Granger of the situation, and now it seems she and the entire Weasley clan are up in arms."

"Molly and Arthur see Harry as another one of their own. We have to at least let them know what the situation is. I do believe that we include Miss Granger and the youngest Mr. Weasley in this discussion, at the very least so they don't stress Harry with questions."

"I agree, but how much do we tell them? After all, its not really our story to tell. Its Harry's and to a lesser extent Severus'."

"Well, I suggest we go speak to Severus, goodness knows he won't leave the infirmary to speak to us. Let Severus decide what, and how much information is revealed, and to whom. But in the meantime, I suggest we send off messages to both Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley before we have the entire Order on our backs. Its a minor miracle this hasn't gotten to Remus yet."

"I agree. Let me send Fawkes with these messages."

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_Rest assured that we got your message in a timely manner, and acted upon it immediately. Harry is currently safe from harm. You will understand that I cannot reveal anymore to you at this time. I will endeavor to keep you updated on any news that may come my way in regards to this matter. Perhaps, it might be best if you were to go to Headquarters, and stay, if agreeable to your parents. The Weasley family would join you shortly, and Remus Lupin is already there. A word of caution, Professor Lupin is not aware of the information you have imparted to us, and I must ask that you do not reveal anything to him about Harry. If he asks why you're there, simply tell him that I believe it to be the safest place for you at this time._

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Dear Molly, Arthur, and Ronald,_

_I received Ronald's owl regarding a situation involving Harry, that Miss Granger had written him about. We have acted upon the information and I can tell you only that Harry is currently safe from harm. I must ask that none of you try to contact him at this time. Additionally, Molly and Arthur, I ask that you and your family take up residence (temporarily) at Headquarters, so that as further information becomes available, it may be imparted to as many people who need to know, in the most secure manner. I have sent Miss Granger a letter, requesting that she present herself at Headquarters as well, providing that it is agreeable with her parents. As I told Miss Granger, I must ask that do not reveal anything of the current situation, or your concerns regarding Harry to Remus Lupin. All will be revealed in due time._

_Albus Dumbledore_

"Now, Fawkes, deliver these messages to Miss Hermione Granger, and to the Weasley family."

With that, the scarlet and gold phoenix disappeared in a flash of flame.

"Now, Minerva, let us go speak with Severus, and see if somehow we can't work something out. I truly feel that this could be a new beginning for both Severus and Harry."

Coming up:

A discussion with Severus

A discussion with Harry

Scenes at Grimmauld Place with the Weasleys, Hermione, and Remus


	5. Chapter 5: Conversations

A/N: Sorry about the delay in updating. I've had a lot going on recently. Hopefully, updates won't come along so far apart. As an avid fanfiction reader, I know how frustrating it is when you start getting into a story and it stops, having been abandoned by its author. I'm going to try not to do that with this story. Now, onwards!

Chapter 4: Conversations

The rosy hues of sunlight were streaming through the windows of the Hospital Wing when Harry awoke next. Carefully taking stock of his injuries, he realized that much had been mended, and he was no longer in a great deal of pain. It was then that he took a look around to see where he was. 'Hmm' he thought. 'The Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. How did I get here?' He then saw the figured draped in black sitting next to his bedside, sound asleep, but looking very much worse for the wear. Professor Snape's features were creased with worry lines, and his robes, normally so immaculate, were rumpled and creased. Even more unusual than his disheveled appearance, was the fact that he was holding Harry's hand in both of his own. 'Why is he...'

It was then that Harry's memories of the last few weeks came rushing back at him. The horrible abuse by Uncle Vernon and Dudley, the lack of care from his Aunt Petunia, being rescued by his formidable Potions Professor, being brought to Hogwarts, waking up to hear Professor Dumbledore revealing yet another secret about Harry, finding out the true story of his parentage—though he suspected he hadn't even yet heard the half of it.

As these thoughts tumbled about mercilessly in his mind, he grew angrier and angrier. A breeze rustled through the ward, and Harry's bed started to shake. It was then that Severus woke up.

"Harry, you're awake! How are you feeling, and do...What's happening?" Severus just noticed the breeze—well, it was really more of a breeze, it had strengthened to practically gust strength, and the bed that was not only shaking, but was now levitating almost a foot off the ground. The air immediately around Harry seemed to almost be crackling.

At that moment, Albus Dumbledore chose to enter the Hospital Wing.

When Harry saw him, he couldn't control himself any longer. The gusting wind whipped up into mini-cyclones that started ripping their way through the infirmary. The other beds pushed themselves out of the way and slammed against the walls of the ward. And Harry, in a move one would have thought impossible in his fragile condition, leapt out of his bed and was halfway across the room before Severus could blink.

Harry halted a few feet from the Headmaster and began to yell at the top of his voice.

"HOW COULD YOU KEEP THIS FROM ME? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? YOU KNEW HOW MUCH I HATED IT THERE! YOU KNEW THEY DIDN'T TAKE CARE OF ME! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS KEEP THINGS FROM ME, THINGS THAT AFFECT MY LIFE? FIRST THE DAMN PROPHECY, NOW THIS! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THIS WHEN YOU TOLD ME THE PROPHECY? DON'T GIVE ME ANY EXCUSES ABOUT MY MOTHER NOT WANTING ME TOLD. YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T KEEP THINGS FROM ME ANYMORE. YOU PROMISED! YOU KNEW ALL ALONG AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME! YOU KNEW ABOUT THE CUPBOARD AND ALL THAT WENT WITH IT, BUT YOU THOUGHT THAT KEEPING ME FROM MY FATHER WAS BETTER. YOU WERE THE ONE THAT ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT SNAPE WAS OKAY, THAT HE WAS ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS, AND THAT I SHOULD TRUST HIM. WHY THEN WAS IT BETTER FOR ME TO LIVE WITH _THEM_ AS OPPOSED TO MY FATHER? MY MOTHER KNEW HER SISTER AND BROTHER-IN-LAW, I KNOW SHE WOULDN'T HAVE WANTED ME THERE.

ITS ALL YOUR FAULT, IT IS! THE BEATINGS I HAD TO GO THROUGH, THE...THE...," Harry faltered at this next, voice dropping to a whisper, but was clearly heard in the silence of the room, "the r-r-rapes. I was starved and mistreated almost my entire childhood because of you," Harry uttered in a flat, tired voice. With that last, he crumpled into a heap on the floor, both physically and magically exhausted. The whirling dervishes died, and all the loose parchment and other lightweight items slowly drifted back to the floor.

Severus gathered himself out of the daze he had been in since he first awoke, and looked, first at his child, in a broken heap on the floor, then at the Headmaster, a man he had always had the utmost respect for. The old man, was standing still, in the same position as when Harry began his rant, save for the downturn of his shoulders. There were tears coursing down his cheeks, soaked up by his long white beard.

"Is what he said true? Did you know what was going on in that house? DID YOU SEND MY SON TO A PLACE WHERE YOU KNEW THAT HIS 'CAREGIVERS' WERE ABUSING HIM?" Severus's voice had risen from a deadly whisper to a volume that almost matched the one his son had just employed.

"Severus," Dumbledore began, "I have done many things in my life that I'm not proud of, nay, that I am ashamed of. Some of the things that I've done that shame me the most, involve Harry. To answer your question, yes, to some extent I knew that all was not well in the Dursley household. I knew about the cupboard under the stairs, but then Harry was moved to a bedroom upon receipt of his Hogwarts letters and" he was cutoff though by Severus.

"Letters? As in more than one letter? Why did he receive more than one letter?" Severus questioned.

"His relatives kept them from him, and refused to send any reply. Albus had to send Hagrid to track them down. I believe they were found in some rickety little shack in the middle of the sea." Minerva McGonagall answered, having arrived in the Hospital Wing in the midst of Harry's tirade against the Headmaster. Shooting a dirty look at Albus, she bent down and scooped up the boy and laid him gently back on the bed, pulling the covers over him. "Now please continue your story. I, too, would like an explanation."

To Be Continued...


	6. Chapter 6: Conversations Continued

A/N: Thanks to all those who sent me reviews. It really does help with the motivation to keep writing.

Chapter 6: Conversations Continued

_Previously: _

"_His relatives kept them from him, and refused to send any reply. Albus had to send Hagrid to track them down. I believe they were found in some rickety little shack in the middle of the sea." Minerva McGonagall answered, having arrived in the Hospital Wing in the midst of Harry's tirade against the Headmaster. Shooting a dirty look at Albus, she bent down and scooped up the boy and laid him gently back on the bed, pulling the covers over him. "Now please continue your story. I, too, would like an explanation."_

With a sigh and a shaky wave of his wand, Albus Dumbledore, the man many considered the greatest wizard of all time, but who currently felt like he was a cockroach that needed to be squashed, conjured a chair and picked up with the telling of his tale.

"As I was saying, yes, I was aware of the cupboard, but there was only the one letter addressed that way---the other letters were all addressed to a bedroom. At that point in time, I thought maybe he had been put there for a punishment for a day, and that the bedroom was his true address, which would certainly make sense given that the next few days, all letters were from then on addressed to him in 'The Smallest Bedroom'."

"And it never occurred to you Albus, to question why there was more than one letter?" Severus asked in a voice full of scorn.

"Merlin knows that I certainly brought it up! I was the one who had to sign all those letters. If only I had looked at the envelope to see the address, it would certainly have never gotten past just the one letter. I would have gone straight to Surrey and picked up Harry myself.

"But when I broached the subject of multiple letters with Albus, he just said that it was no more than he expected, considering Petunia's views on Lily, James, and magic in general. When I told him that I'd had to sign over a hundred letters by that point, he then made the decision to send Hagrid." Minerva McGonagall, sat back again, her eyes flashing.

"Yes, yes, that is when I sent Hagrid. When Hagrid came back from his mission to take Harry to Diagon Alley, that is when I first started to have some inkling of my mistake. He told me about where he found Harry, and what sort of reactions the Dursleys had to his presence. To be honest, that is not what surprised me. What surprised me, is when Hagrid told me that he had to tell Harry what Hogwarts was, what happened to Lily and James, and even the simple fact that magic was real, and that he was a wizard.

"I had left all that information in my letter to Petunia, when I left Harry with her on that Halloween night. I had requested that she inform Harry as soon as he was old enough to understand. I confess, I overestimated Petunia. I was very angry, but at the same time afraid. For, as you will recall, there were already stirrings of something Dark rising. I had my suspicions that it was Voldemort, and that as I feared, he hadn't truly been defeated.

"By that point I had already ordered the removal of the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts, and as you both know now, a good thing that was. I was dreadfully worried about Harry, though, upon hearing Hagrid's report.

"But then September 1st came, and with it Harry's arrival at Hogwarts. I will say that I laid aside many of my concerns about Harry when I saw him entering the Great Hall with his peers. He was alive and relatively healthy, albeit not quite as happy as one would expect an eleven year old to be, nor perhaps as well fed as he should have been, but I didn't see any evidence of the outright abuse that Hagrid's tale had brought to my mind.

"Of course, we all know how Harry's first year turned out, and the story of the stone and his defeat of Voldemort, via Professor Quirrell is legend even now, a mere five years later. Yet, it is true that Harry did ask if he could stay the summer at Hogwarts, that he didn't really want to return home. I questioned Harry if there was anything that he needed to tell me, and he told me that there was nothing.

"I assumed that his reluctance to return home was due to his happiness in being part of the wizarding world, his parents' world. I believed that he would miss his friends. It was to that end that I set Hagrid with a task to gather photographs of James and Lily, and make an album for Harry. Then he would always have a reminder with him of who he really was, and where he came from."

It was just then that an eager little owl flew through one of the windows lining the Hospital Wing.

"Ah, Pigwidgeon, what do you have for me today?" Dumbledore questioned the little owl, while removing the scroll tied to its leg.

_Headmaster,_

_We received your message, and have relocated to Grimmauld Place, along with Hermione Granger. We must confess as to being dreadfully concerned about Harry. Of course, you do realize, the children have come to believe that something dreadful has befallen him, and they are having a hard time keeping up a front for Remus. We feel that he knows something is up, and that it most likely involves Harry. Not that it is too terribly difficult, when Headquarters is suddenly invaded by us Weasleys, and Hermione. He is getting very suspicious and asking all sorts of questions. It is only a matter of time before one of us breaks down and lets something slip. Please, sir, can you tell us anything? Harry is like a son to us, and a brother to the children, and you know Remus considers him part of his pack._

_Arthur and Molly Weasley_

"Poppy! Could you please come in here?" Dumbledore called in the direction of the mediwitch's office.

Poppy Pomfrey, relieved that the shouting and chaos seemed to be through, came out of her office, and first checked over her most frequent patient. "Passed out from exhaustion, both physically and magically. He shouldn't awake until sometime tomorrow, the poor dear."

"Poppy, may I trouble you to watch over Harry for a time? I have explanations to give, and to many people, so it would best to do it all at once, in the same place."

"Of course, Albus." Madam Pomfrey replied.

"Severus, Minerva, would you please accompany me to Headquarters? There we will find the Weasleys, Miss Grange, and Remus Lupin, all people who deserve to hear this story, and my apologies."

"Of course, I'll accompany you. I still want to hear the rest of this. If you could please give me a minute with my son?"

"Certainly. I will await you in my office, and we can floo over together."

"I, too, will accompany you. I have often thought of this child as a grandson, and am most anxious to hear whatever else you have to say. Though I warn you, your excuses have been most insufficient so far, in my opinion at least." McGonagall then swept past the Headmaster out into the corridor. The Headmaster then followed her.

"Poppy? A word, please?" Severus asked the mediwitch.

"Yes, Severus?"

"You probably have the best knowledge of my son's medical history. Did you ever, at any point, see any signs whatsoever?"

"Severus, I will tell you that I did see some signs that something out of the ordinary was taking place. Nothing major, and unfortunately nothing that Harry couldn't explain away. Which is what he did whenever I asked him about the injuries he would seem to acquire every summer. He would blame them on falls down the stairs, street fights, roughhousing with his cousin, who he assured me was the 'size of a whale' I believe were his exact words. He told me that he'd been to muggle doctors and that they'd fixed what they were able. I would then heal the rest by magic.

If I had known what was really going on, I would have told Albus, _and_ Minerva—as his Head of House, he's her responsibility too. I'm really sorry Severus. I should have looked harder, and realized that his stories didn't really match up with his injuries. That poor child. I remember the day he was born..."

"You w-were there t-that day?" Severus asked quietly, seeming to choke back tears.

"Yes, I was there. If you'd like, I'll put the memory in a Pensieve for you."

"Please, thank you. I-I must be going now." With that, Severus stalked from the Hospital Wings, robes billowing behind. If seen from a distance, it would appear that he was carrying on as usual, furious at the world. But up close, you could see the tracks that tears had made down his face, and his eyes were glistening with those not yet shed.

To Be Continued

Coming Soon:

Chapter 7: Meeting at Grimmauld Place


	7. Chapter 7: Meeting at Grimmauld Place

A/N: Well I have a three day weekend this weekend, (thank goodness for federal holidays!) and this time I don't have a potential career making test hanging over my head (took it on Wednesday, and passed!) so hopefully, I'll be able to get at least one other chapter in addition to this one out. Once again, thanks to all who have reviewed so far, your words keep me going.

Chapter 7: Meeting at Grimmauld Place

_Previously:_

_If I had known what was really going on, I would have told Albus, and Minerva—as his Head of House, he's her responsibility too. I'm really sorry Severus. I should have looked harder, and realized that his stories didn't really match up with his injuries. That poor child. I remember the day he was born..."_

"_You w-were there t-that day?" Severus asked quietly, seeming to choke back tears._

"_Yes, I was there. If you'd like, I'll put the memory in a Pensieve for you."_

"_Please, thank you. I-I must be going now." With that, Severus stalked from the Hospital Wings, robes billowing behind. If seen from a distance, it would appear that he was carrying on as usual, furious at the world. But up close, you could see the tracks that tears had made down his face, and his eyes were glistening with those not yet shed._

Severus Snape briskly walked from the Hospital Wing, headed for the Headmaster's Office, so that he could floo from there to 12 Grimmauld Place, and once there, meet up with Remus Lupin, Hermione Granger, the entire Weasley family, and Minerva McGonagall, so that they could all _finally_ get some answers from one Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

When he arrived at the office, he just barely caught the last flicker of green flame, that indicated that the Headmaster and the Deputy Headmistress had already preceded him to Headquarters. With a sigh, he crossed over to the mantle, reached into the pot, withdrew a handful of sparkling powder, and threw it into the fireplace, whilst at the same time stating clearly, "12 Grimmauld Place"...and then a pause before giving the wretched password, "Marauders." He then stepped into the flames that were now a striking emerald green, and with a 'whoosh', he was gone.

He gracefully stepped out of the fireplace at his destination, withdrawing his wand as he did so, and incanted a simple cleaning charm to divest himself of the ashes and soot that cling to the traveler after a Floo trip. His beetle black eyes narrowed as he scanned the room, carefully noting all the occupants, and swiftly ascertaining that there was nobody there that shouldn't be.

He then stalked over to a chair, and with an elegant swish of his black robes, deposited himself in the comfortable seat. He looked impatiently at the Headmaster, and snapped,

"Well, we're all here now, let's get this over with. I have someplace else I am needed."

Minerva McGonagall swiveled around in her chair to look at the Potions Master. Surely he wanted to know the Headmaster's reasoning just as much, if not more so, than she did. In fact, it was he who originally demanded the explanation, after Harry's outburst. Why now did he act as if this was just an inconvenient burden? Then, as she looked into his eyes, she could see the emotion he was really feeling. The mask he presented to the outside world was once again in place, but to one who knew him well, and knew where to look, his concern for the matter at hand was readily apparent.

Albus Dumbledore stood and with a wave of his wand, the doors to the sitting room closed. Another wave and several more comfortable chairs were conjured so the few who were still standing could have a seat. Finally, all the occupants of the room felt a wave of strong magic flow over them as powerful wards were cast, preventing anyone not already present in the room from eavesdropping, and additionally preventing anyone else from entering.

He then gestured for Arthur, Charlie, and Fred Weasley, and Remus Lupin to sit in the seats he had conjured. "Sit, please, for it is a long and difficult tale that I must impart to you." They sat quickly, anxious to hear what the Headmaster had to say, for they all loved Harry dearly. Arthur, as a son, Charlie and Fred as another brother, and Remus considered him as part of his pack, one to be protected and cared for at all costs.

"To tell you this story, so that you will _all_ understand, I must start at the very beginning. There is a bit of background information here that needs to be revealed. However, everything that is said in this room cannot be discussed with anyone not present. I can not stress this enough. Lives could be endangered with the information I am going to reveal.

"During Severus' sixth year of schooling, he was experiencing an uncharacteristic downturn in his grades, due to outside stress. I decided to assign him a tutor in Charms, his main area of difficulty. I chose as his tutor, not only the brightest Charms student Hogwarts has seen in many years, but a Gryffindor muggleborn girl, hoping that once Severus spent some time with her, he would see that his views on Gryffindors and muggleborns was not the correct view. I succeeded in some respect, though you could argue that his view on Gryffindors in general didn't change. However, his thoughts on this one Gryffindor certainly did."

"Lily Evans," Remus cut in. "You were the one that she was off with all the time? We tried and tried to figure it out, even used the Marauder's Map for awhile, until James got bored of trying to guess where she was."

"Please, Remus, this is going to be a difficult story for you to hear, probably more so than it will be for me to tell, which is really saying something. It would be best if I could get it all out in one shot, and then the rest of you can question me, shout at me, whatever, all you want."

"Of course, Headmaster, I apologize. Please continue."

"Yes, it was Lily that agreed to tutor Severus in Charms, in exchange for help with Potions. It turned out to be a wonderful partnership, even beyond anything I had imagined." Dumbledore paused, reflecting on his memories of the two teenagers, his cerulean blue eyes filling with tears as he looked at Severus. Severus's carefully constructed mask was starting to crumble as he too was lost in the memories of his youth and Lily.

"They first became friends, and then they realized they had fallen in love. They were at a loss, though, as to how they could hide their relationship. It would have been wonderful if they didn't have to hide, but of course, Severus's family was very firmly entrenched on the side of the Dark Lord, even more so than the Black family."

The Weasley children and Hermione all looked at each other in disbelief, having heard Sirius and Remus tell stories about the Blacks, not to mention Kreacher and that damn portrait. There was a family more fanatical than that?

"It was at this point that James Potter came to the rescue. He adored Lily as if she were his sister and was willing to do anything that would make her happy. He agreed to be the cover for Lily and Severus's relationship. It was perfect, I believed, and I did what I could to assist with the situation.

"After their graduation from Hogwarts, I secretly performed a marriage ceremony between Lily and Severus, and then publicly performed a false ceremony with Lily and James. Remus, do you remember now?"

"Yes, its all coming back to me. How is it that I am just now remembering? I can't believe that I would forget that James and Lily weren't really married."

"That would be because of a spell that I had to place on you and Sirius. This spell was necessary due to events that occurred about a year later. Lily became pregnant. The child was unplanned, in fact, she and Severus had never even discussed having children. To put it bluntly, Lily panicked. Her maternal instincts and her love for Severus went into overdrive. She came to me very distraught. She was afraid of Voldemort. She was afraid of what he would do to Severus, to herself, and to the baby. She told me that she was afraid that Severus would be discovered as a spy, or that he would be in trouble for marrying and having a child with a muggleborn witch. She also said that she was afraid for the child, that Voldemort would try to take the baby, as all firstborn children of Death Eaters are sworn into his service after their naming ceremony. She came to me asking for my advice. Her thoughts had already drifted towards terminating the pregnancy, a thought which was killing her inside. She already loved that baby so much, and she was barely a month pregnant. I knew though that she would do it, if she thought that there was no other way. I then revealed to her a prophecy that had been revealed to me recently. This is the same prophecy that the Death Eaters were after in the Department of Mysteries that night. Voldemort is aware of the first half, but does not know the rest. I told Harry the prophecy that night, and I will tell the rest of you now.

"I know that I don't have to tell you again that it is the utmost importance that Voldemort does not find this information out.

" 'THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES...BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT...AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HANDS OF THE OTHER, FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES...THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...' I told Lily that night that the child she was carrying could be the child of the prophecy, and could be the one to deliver us all from the Dark Lord's evil clutches.

"I then reminded her of her 'marriage' to James—the fail-safe that we already had in place. The child could be raised as James's, and a glamour could be placed on the infant at birth, masking any features it might have inherited from Severus, and replaced them with James's features.

"She then asked me what to do about Severus, and here I feel that I made the first of many, many grave errors. I told her not to tell him. At this point Severus's skills in Occlumency were rudimentary at best, and it wouldn't have taken Voldemort much effort to break into his mind.

However, if Severus only knew about the child as the product of James and Lily, there would be no ammunition for Voldemort to use against any of them. In fact, as I told Lily, and as was later proven to be true, most unfortunately, the feelings that Severus would undoubtedly posses towards the infant would be bitterness and hate—proper feelings for a Death Eater to have concerning a 'Mudblood, a Potter, and their spawn'.

It was that day that she left Severus, never revealing any information to him. She never gave up on him or her true family though. She told me that she intended to make it all right once Voldemort was vanquished. However, she realized, that due to the prophecy, she was still in a certain amount of danger, and she sent time-delayed letters to both Harry and Severus to be delivered on Harry's 16th birthday. I know that Harry has received his, but due to outside influences, has been unable to read it yet. I do believe that Lily may have packaged Severus's letter in with Harry's, as to my knowledge, Severus hasn't received his yet, correct?"

Severus merely nodded, not trusting his voice at this time, and not wishing to give up his persona in front of all these people, many of whom were still his students.

"Now, we come to the next part of my tale, and this is quite possibly the part that I am most ashamed of. Lily had previously made me promise not to tell anybody anything until Voldemort was well and truly defeated. Unfortunately as we all know, he was not defeated on that Halloween night in 1981, a fact that I had deep suspicions on at the time. Additionally there were still many Death Eaters out and about that would have given anything to get their hands on the baby wizard that knocked their master out of commission.

"With all that in mind, I decided not to inform Severus of his relationship to young Harry, instead I would place him with Lily's sister and her husband. I could place impenetrable wards around Petunia's house that were linked to Harry and the Dursley family through the common blood of the Evans family. This link was made stronger considering the blood magic in Harry's veins from his mother's sacrifice of her life for his.

"No wizard wishing harm on Harry could get through the wards on 4 Privet Drive. Unfortunately, there was a flaw in those wards. No, they worked as they were intended, but I should have made them broader. However, I simply couldn't conceive that Lily's sister would be as horrible as she turned out to be. Lily Evans was a wonderful, caring, loving young woman, and it was one of my gravest errors to assume that her sister would be the same.

"Minerva warned me all those years ago, when it came time to deliver Harry to his relatives, that I was making a mistake. She had sat and observed the family all day, and tried to convince me to place him, with a wizarding family at least. I am ashamed to say, but I blew off her concerns and left him on the doorstep, with naught but a blanket and a note explaining the situation to Petunia Dursley.

Albus paused at that point to conjure a glass of water, and while drinking stole glances at the faces gathered around the room. Severus was trembling slightly, all the while struggling not to let his impassive mask fall. Minerva was glaring at him from across the room, while occasionally glancing at Severus to see how he was holding up. Harry's closest friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were holding each other, while Hermione had tears glistening in her brown eyes—they knew the worst was yet to come—you couldn't be best friends with Harry for five years and not figure out that _something_ was wrong. The remaining Weasleys were hanging on his every word, and Remus Lupin looked as if his whole world was crashing down.

To Be Continued

Coming Soon:

Chapter 8: Harry's Life at 4 Privet Drive

Whoa...that is definitely the longest chapter I've written yet. I had to stop there, because otherwise, once I get into what really happened with the Dursley's, the chapter would have been like 3 times as long! Chapter 8 will probably be quite long as well.


	8. Chapter 8: Harry's Story

A/N: Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to update this but all that kept coming out when I went to write was stuff for my other story 'The Four of Prophecy', even when I specifically sat down to write for this fic. It was completely maddening, I tell you, because I would have this faint wisp of an idea floating in my head, but when I'd go to flesh it out, I couldn't remember anymore. Aaaagggh! But I think I've finally gotten my rogue Muse under control, at least for now, so the least I can do is get a chapter out to you. Thanks to all who have reviewed and continued with your encouragement! Now, without further delay...

Chapter Eight: Albus reveals a bit of Harry's Story

"Like I have said, I made a most grievous mistake when placing Harry in the Dursleys' 'care', as if it could be called such. The seriousness of this was brought crashing down upon my head yesterday, when Professor Snape ran into my office, clutching a letter from Miss Granger.

"I had just finished reading the letter when the alarms that were woven into the wards of Privet Drive went off. The alarm was not the one for a Death Eater attack, but rather, one that I had specifically woven into Harry's magical energies, his very life force. It was set to go off when Harry was very near to dying, using his magic to sustain life."

Albus paused to take another drink of water, and again scanned the room. All the females in the room now had tears streaming unchecked, as they thought of the boy they all loved in different ways, almost dying. Ginny, loving Harry as a girlfriend loves her boyfriend; Molly, loving Harry as a mother loves her son; Minerva, loving Harry as a grandmother loves a grandchild; and Hermione, loving Harry as a sister loves a brother. Quite a few of the men in the room were also crying, or if not actually shedding tears, eyes glistening with drops yet to be shed. Ron, Arthur, Remus, and Severus were included in this group. Another figure should have been included in this group, but Albus and the others were unaware of the man listening just outside the door.

"Severus, Minerva, and I quickly rushed to Privet Drive and forced entry into the house. When we arrived upstairs, we found a door with at least twenty locks, on the _outside_, and a cat flap cut crudely into the door."

The elder Weasleys and Ginny all gasped, but Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Remus were all unsurprised; the Twins and Ron having known this since they had to break Harry out of his room before Second Year, and Hermione having been told all about that adventure, and Remus having discovered the door for himself, when he and the other members of Harry's Order guard had come to collect him to Grimmauld Place prior to Fifth Year.

"We, of course, made short work of the locks and quickly opened the door, but had to draw back at the sight and smell of the room. Severus, of the three of us, being the most accustomed to the sights and smells of human torture, entered the room first, and came upon..." Here Albus was cut off by Severus's choked voice.

"I came upon a twitching bundle of bloody rags, that ended up turning out to be my son! The only way you could recognize him was the blasted scar that bastard marked him with!" Severus could control his emotions no longer, and silently wept, students and Gryffindors present, be damned. Minerva crossed the room and offered a handkerchief and silent support for her colleague.

"Yes, well, Severus was able to rouse Harry a bit, in order that we might determine where his belongings were. We then discovered that his relatives locked up his belongings in the cupboard under the stairs every summer, all save for what Harry was able to hide from them—his wand, invisibility cloak, photo album, and letters from his friends", he nodded towards the youngest three in the room, "and those things he hid under a loose floorboard beneath his bed.

"Harry then lapsed back into his unconscious state, and Severus quickly took him to Madam Pomfrey at Hogwarts, while Minerva gathered his belongings from the places Harry mentioned. As for myself, I cornered Vernon and Petunia Dursley, and quickly performed _legilimens_ on them to discern exactly how Harry had come by his injuries."

The tension in the room had risen to astronomical heights as all present waited with baited breath, anxious to hear what exactly had befallen the boy they all loved, but dreading to hear it at the same time.

"The majority of Harry's injuries were caused by Vernon Dursley, who apparently had started beating Harry at the age of two and had started molesting Harry at the age of four, culminating in him raping Harry beginning at age six."

There was no longer a dry eye in the room. Hermione had completely broken down, and Ron was doing the best he could to console her, while tears also streamed unchecked down his own face. Molly and Arthur had enfolded Ginny in a three way embrace, and Remus had his own tears coming, even as he glared at the old Headmaster, the wolf in him recognizing that Albus had a large part in his cub's suffering, even if it was indirectly.

Severus, who was hearing these horrible things that happened to his son, for the first time, had moved past the emotional reaction, and into shock. Minerva, upon seeing this, seized the cup of water that Albus had been drinking from and splashed some onto his face. When his eyes focused and looked at her, she felt her heart breaking anew, at the suffering, love, shame, and guilt that shone in his black eyes.

"Albus, I think we need a break. I believe that Severus, and possibly a few others could do with some fresh air," Minerva murmured to the old man. Mutely, he nodded.

She gently took Severus's hands in hers and pulled him up from the chair. She guided him from the room and into the hallway, where they stumbled upon the figure that had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation, and was now currently curled into a ball, crying brokenheartedly.

Severus stared at the unknown intruder into this most private conversation about his son, but didn't really see the man, beyond the fact that he was tall, very thin, and had long, scraggly black hair, streaked with silver.

Hoarsely, he asked, "Who are you, and what are you doing in this house?", while Minerva held her wand out pointed at the man's chest.

The man slowly looked up, peering at the two of them through his ice blue eyes, still streaming with tears.

"Sirius Black!", Minerva gasped.

To Be Continued...

Aren't I evil? Hope that was worth at least some of the wait. Since this is such a cliffhanger, I'll try not to wait so long before updating, but my Muse has got to cooperate!


	9. Chapter 9: Return from Beyond the Veil

Disclaimer: See chapter 1 or 2 for more info.

Warning: A lot of angst ahead, but interestingly enough, not for our hero, but for all of his friends/family….

Previously:

_She gently took Severus's hands in hers and pulled him up from the chair. She guided him from the room and into the hallway, where they stumbled upon the figure that had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation, and was now currently curled into a ball, crying brokenheartedly._

_Severus stared at the unknown intruder into this most private conversation about his son, but didn't really see the man, beyond the fact that he was tall, very thin, and had long, scraggly black hair, streaked with silver._

_Hoarsely, he asked, "Who are you, and what are you doing in this house?", while Minerva held her wand out pointed at the man's chest._

_The man slowly looked up, peering at the two of them through his ice blue eyes, still streaming with tears._

"_Sirius Black!", Minerva gasped._

**Chapter Nine: Return from Beyond the Veil**

Sirius ignored Minerva's stunned gasp, his mind singularly focused on the man in front of him.

"Is it true, Severus? What Albus was saying about Harry…is it true?"

Severus stared at the man all thought was dead. 'How did he hear Albus's story? The venerable wizard had placed silencing charms on the room that would have been all but impossible for a strong wizard in his prime to break, much less the train wreck of a man that Sirius Black had become.' Severus thought to himself. He decided to ask the obvious questions.

"Who are you, and how did you come to be in this house?" he asked, even though he knew the answer to the first question. He had already confirmed that the man was indeed his childhood tormentor, and not an imposter using a glamour or polyjuice. He decided to ask both questions, if only to ascertain that the man wasn't under the influence of evil. It was well known that Voldemort had dabbled in Necromancy, so it wasn't beyond the realm of the impossible that this wasn't Sirius Black as they all knew him, but instead was the mere empty shell, risen to do the Dark Lord's nefarious bidding.

"My name, as you well know, Snivellous, is Sirius Orion Black, this is my house, and I want to know if what Albus said is the TRUTH OR NOT!" The man's voice rose even as he became more hysterical in his grief.

"How were you able to hear what was said? The Headmaster laid down impenetrable silencing wards, that prevented anyone not in that room from hearing what was said."

The thin man snorted bitterly. "This is the 'Ancient and Most Noble House of Black', wouldn't it stand to reason that the Head of the Black family would be exempted from all such spells in this house? Now, will someone please tell me what is going on with my godson?"

The explanation given did make sense to Severus; many of the older pureblood families did have such protection spells on their family seats. As for Sirius's other question, he deemed it wise to bring the man into the circle of trust that was being created today. He would confirm the information that Sirius had already heard, and as for the rest, he could hear directly from Albus.

"What did you hear?" he asked guardedly.

"I heard about the wedding, which then made me remember the truth about you, and Lily, and James. I then heard about Harry and what Lily's family did to him. Please tell me its not true…please I can't stand to know that I failed Harry that much…please tell me its not true…" with that he broke off into silent sobs.

Severus felt an unexpected stirring of sympathy for his former nemesis. The man had been wrongfully imprisoned in Azkaban for a dozen years, then on the run for a year as a dog, then imprisoned in his own home for the next year, only to fall beyond the veil and suffer Merlin knows what, to re-emerge a month later and hear these devastating things about his godson. For all Black's shortcomings, Severus knew that the man well and truly loved and cared for Harry.

"Unfortunately, it is true. Harry has had to endure all that and more." Severus and Minerva whirled around to find the aged Headmaster standing in the entryway.

"I was coming to inquire as to if we might continue, and happened to overhear the last bit of your conversation," Professor Dumbledore addressed his two colleagues. To Sirius he directed the next, "Sirius, welcome back, my boy. It does my old heart good, on this day of such sorrow, to feel the joy of your return. Later, we must speak about how it is that you have come back to us, but for now, I believe that we should all return to the drawing room, and return our focus to Harry's plight."

With that said, the elder wizard turned and walked back into the drawing room, the other three following behind him. Once Sirius appeared in the room, gasps, shrieks of shock, and even the sound of a body hitting the floor could be heard.

Sirius walked over to where Remus lay prone and muttered under his breath, "Ennervate," and the other wizard slowly came back around.

"Hi, Moony. I'm back!" Sirius attempted to smile brightly at his comrade, even through his tears.

"What…but how…sweet Merlin, Sirius is it really you?" Remus asked in shock, a mix of hope and fear in his voice.

"Yes, Sirius has returned to us and I'm sure that later we'll all gladly hear the tale of his return, however, I think it best that we focus our attention back on the matter at hand." Surprisingly, it was not the Headmaster who said this, but rather Severus Snape.

"Quite right, Severus," Sirius agreed. "Harry is the most important issue right now. Please, Albus, what else happened to our Harry?"

"Aside from the sexual abuse, I'm afraid that Harry was made to endure a never-ending regime of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse. From his aunt Petunia, it was mostly verbal and emotional, although it seems she was not averse to throwing things at her nephew. Her weapon of choice was an old, heavy, cast-iron skillet. It hit Harry twice before he became adept at avoiding it. She was mostly content to tell her nephew that he was a freak, unnatural, and never showed him a single ounce of affection.

"From his cousin, Dudley, Harry had to deal with mostly physical abuse, along with the taunting done by a typical bully. Dudley, it appears, invented a game that he called, 'Harry Hunting' in which he and the other neighborhood boys," (here Sirius could be heard to mutter "Thugs") " would chase Harry until they could find and/or catch him, and then they would beat him, almost unconscious.

"Of course, his uncle, Vernon, was definitely the worst of the lot. In addition to the sexual abuse, he beat Harry almost every day, and not just with his hands. He used all manner of implements, practically anything that was available and guaranteed to hurt, was used. Harry has been hit with a shovel, run over by a lawn mower, been burnt with a red-hot poker, whipped with a switch, and scalded by burning water. The last was also used as punishment by his aunt.

"All of this started about six months from the day that Harry was left on the doorstep. The six month waiting period convinced them that none of our 'kind' were watching them, so they felt secure enough to begin their regime of terror on poor Harry."

Surprisingly, it was not Minerva, Severus, Sirius, or Remus who spoke what came next.

"So, you're saying that if people, such as yourself or other members of the Order, had made their presence known, Harry wouldn't have been subjected to this abuse? If that is true, then not only is his family guilty, but so is every member of the Order, by association. You were all supposed to protect him, an innocent baby, one that had just done our world a great service, by ridding it, albeit temporarily, of Vol-Voldemort! When James and Lily died to protect him, they trusted that members of the Order would look after him. You all failed that trust!" Ginny Weasley sat with her eyes full of fire and her chest heaving with emotion.

"Sirius, you should have insisted that Harry remain with you, instead of allowing Hagrid to take him. You definitely should not have run off all gung-ho to get revenge on Peter. Your responsibility was to Harry, and I'm afraid to say that you failed him.

"Remus, you should not have run off and hidden for ten years, licking your wounds. Yes, you were grieving over the loss of your friends, but Harry, a self-acknowledged member of your pack had lost people even more important to him. You mourned your friends, but you failed them, as well.

"Professor McGonagall, you should have stood up to Professor Dumbledore and his asinine decision to leave Harry on a doorstep. Aside from your observations of what sort of people the Dursleys were, who in their right mind leaves an infant on a doorstep at night in November? Especially one that had just been cursed with the most heinous of curses, lost both of his parents, godfather, and surrogate uncles in one night. All you did was put up a token protest and left him there, quite literally in the cold, with only a blanket and a letter. Any person with any amount of sense, especially after observing what you did regarding the Dursley household, would have waited until morning, and taken the child to the Dursleys in person. At that point, you would have seen how they reacted to a wizard, and hopefully would not have still left Harry there—no matter what a barmy old man says.

"Mum and Dad, you had obligations as members of the Order of the Phoenix to ascertain that Harry Potter was safe and secure. You can't always just take someone's word for it, especially someone who has as much on his plate as the Headmaster does—not that that excuses him in anyway, its just an acknowledgment that things sometimes fall through the cracks, and as members of his organization it is your duty to him and the organization to follow up on those things that just 'fall through'.

"Professor Snape, you had an obligation, not only as a member of the Order, but as husband to Lily to protect her child where she could not due to her sacrifice of love. Even though you thought she betrayed you, you still should have been more mature, and taken the high road. Not to mention your treatment of Harry in class. And lets not forget his Occlumency lessons! You actually were able to see into Harry's memories and know that all was not well at his home.

"Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and myself—we have all failed Harry as well. As his friends, we should have noticed something was not right. Bloody hell, Ron, Fred, and George had to break him out of his house in second year! Iron bars on the window, cat flap in the door, twenty locks keeping the door shut from the _outside_, Hedwig's cage padlocked shut, and his trunk locked in a cupboard under the stairs! Our failure in regards to Harry is just as great, if not greater, than some of the adults here.

"But you, Professor Dumbledore, your failure is the greatest of all. You took a child who had just experienced the most horrible event of his short life, took him from his rightful guardian—thereby driving said guardian into an insane drive for revenge, which ended up with him being locked away for the next twelve years---took him to a house in a Muggle neighborhood, ignored the warnings of a witch who had firsthand knowledge, albeit limited, of the sort of people that lived in said house, left him on a doorstep…at night…in November…with only one measly blanket…and a letter which I'm sure only scratched the surface, in regards to necessary information.

"You left him there, just like that, never having spoken to the residents that lived there. And then, you didn't even bother to check up on him!!! What if the Dursleys hadn't taken him in, but instead had taken him to some random orphanage? You could have easily lost track of your precious 'saviour' then!

" Bloody hell! My mind boggles at all the scenarios that could have played out. In some sick twisted way, you are actually lucky that the Dursleys did take him in, even given what he had to endure—because from what it appears is your point of view, it was better that he was tortured than given to his real father that _might_ have given him over to the Death Eaters. So much for having faith in your spy, huh? But back to where for you it was better for him that the Dursleys kept him---imagine if they hadn't, and he had gone to an orphanage and Lo and behold! He gets taken from said orphanage by one of those very Death Eaters you were trying to protect him from. And…you…would…never…have…known. Why? Because, you couldn't be bothered to check on him.

"Sir, I used to look up to you, but now, I find that I can't even look at you. To be honest, I can't look at any one you, nor myself. I am so ashamed and full of guilt. Right now, I am going to go work at composing my apology to Harry, and when I deliver it to him tomorrow, I will throw myself on his mercy and hope that he can find it in himself to forgive me for my part in his suffering, however indirect it was. I would suggest that all of you seriously consider doing the same."

Ginny Weasley stood, and stalked from the room, with her red hair flying behind her, and her eyes snapping. At that moment, all the adults present were forcibly reminded of another redheaded witch and then they knew with complete certainty that the words that had spewed forth might have been spoken by Ginny but they came directly from Lily Evans.

A/N: Oh my goodness! Sorry about the long wait…I know I had promised to update whilst I was on leave in October, however, my laptop crashed the night that I went to update. I was so upset that I didn't have the heart to work on this story for awhile. But I am actually glad that I had posted what I had done, and didn't wait until it was complete, b/c then the story would have been lost forever. Now I am slowly recovering everything that I had thanks to the internet…But anywhoooo…I am off the next few days, maybe I'll get another update in as a Christmas present to all those who have been kind enough to stick with the story, and write me reviews. Happy Holidays everyone!!


	10. Chapter 10: Reactions

_Previously:_

_"Sir, I used to look up to you, but now, I find that I can't even look at you. To be honest, I can't look at any one you, nor myself. I am so ashamed and full of guilt. Right now, I am going to go work at composing my apology to Harry, and when I deliver it to him tomorrow, I will throw myself on his mercy and hope that he can find it in himself to forgive me for my part in his suffering, however indirect it was. I would suggest that all of you seriously consider doing the same."_

_Ginny Weasley stood, and stalked from the room, with her red hair flying behind her, and her eyes snapping. At that moment, all the adults present were forcibly reminded of another redheaded witch and then they knew with complete certainty that the words that had spewed forth might have been spoken by Ginny but they came directly from Lily Evans._

**Chapter Ten: Reactions**

For ten minutes, nobody in the room moved a muscle, except for the most basic bodily functions of breathing, swallowing, and blinking. Then all at once, there was chaos, everybody talking, some shouting, at once.

Finally, voice could be heard over all. The commanding baritone of Severus Snape, known to strike fear into witches and wizards years after completing Hogwarts, rang out.

"Silence!" he shouted.

As if somebody flipped a switch, all conversations stopped at once, and all faces turned expectantly to the father of the subject of their conversations.

"She's right, you know. We all have pieces of blame in this matter. But that is not what matters now. What matters is the fact that there is a very broken young man laying in the infirmary right now, and he needs each and every one of us to put him back together, and make him stronger than he was before. We need to do this, not because of his destiny as Wizarding Saviour, but because we all love him, and he would be the first in line to do the same for any of us."

Sirius stood up after this speech by his godson's father, and slowly walked over to the Potions Master. "You and I have never gotten along, and I know that a big part of that has been me and my prejudices. Know that from here on, I pledge to do my best by you and Harry. I love that boy as if he were my own, and I would willing give my life for him. In fact, I almost have a couple of times, now," he said with a lospided grin.

"I accept your pledge, and would also like to apologize for my part in our hostilities. Harry loves you, and Lily trusted you. For their sake, I am willing to let bygones be bygones," Severus stated firmly.

The next voice to be heard was not Remus nor even Albus. Ron Weasley stood up, pulling Hermione with him. Together, they walked over to Harry's father and godfather.

"Sir, I know in the past that I have suspected you of great wrongdoing, and have talked bad about you behind your back, and basically been an immature git in your class, but I can see now how wrong I was about you. Even though this information is intensely private and painful, you have shared it with us, so that we can all help Harry recover. For that alone, you have earned my respect. I am glad my friend has a father now, and I am glad that father is you. I think Harry could have no one better on his side, than somebody who truly can understand him, and relate to him. Hermione and I, we try, but really, we're just kids ourselves. But for the past several years, we're all he's had. And really, that's not fair to him. He needs an adult to lean on, just like we lean on our own dads. Now he has you, and I can't help but think that at least some good may come out of this." Ron said all this firmly, looking his teacher in the eye for the first time ever.

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley. Your words are most appreciated, and I thank you for being there for my son when I couldn't. He could have no better friends than you and Miss Granger."

Ron and Hermione then turned and went out of the room to go comfort Ginny, and try to figure out what they were going to say to their best friend when they see him again.

After they left, Fred Weasley spoke seriously for once. "He's right you know. I am glad that you're going to be there for Harry. I think I speak for everyone here, when I say that." Around the room, heads all nodded in agreement, and voices murmered in assent.

At that moment, George Weasley piped in with, "Hey, isn't Sirius going to tell us how he came to be here?"

Everyone turned to Sirius in anticipation. He ran a hand through his scraggly hair, and let out a grim chuckle. "To be honest, I don't remember much of what happened. I remember going to save Harry and the others at the Ministry. I remember fighting Bellatrix, and I remember falling backward, and seeing the devastation on Harry's face as Moony held him back. Then I remember a lot of gray blankness, like a thick blanket enveloped me. There were familiar voices speaking to me. I caught James's voice, and Lily's. My brother Regulus spoke to me as well. I remember their voices, but I don't remember their words. The next thing I knew, I woke up in the Department of Mysteries in my Animagus form. I left there, and came straight here. The rest you know. The important thing is, what are we going to do about Harry?"

A/N: So here it is, almost two years later. I really have no excuse, except for real life. My career in the Air Force ended unexpectedly and abruptly, and I had to move back across the country, and get re-established in my previous career. I've been getting reacquainted with my family after being away for four years, fallen in love, gone to Italy, and moved yet again. And my medical problems continue with no end in sight. But I've kept this story and The Four of Prophecy in my mind, and will endeavor to complete both stories this year. This chapter is dedicated to all my reviewers and other readers following my story, and putting me on their favorites lists, even when its been such an awful long time since I updated. I want to put a particular shout out to jljaina and animesnape21 for giving me my most recent encouragement. Thanks!!


	11. Adoption?

Okay…I may have to admit defeat. As much as I hate to do this, I may have to put this story up for adoption. It kills me to have to do this, but I really want this story finished, and if it is left up to me, I don't see it being done anytime in the near future. However, I am not wanting to throw in the towel completely, especially considering how much of myself I put into this story. If there is anybody wanting to continue this story, send me a message, and we can work together on getting this done. I would like to be the beta reader for the story, so that I can communicate ideas and also make sure the writing style is similar enough that the story flow won't be interrupted. I would prefer somebody who has completed a story before, as that person will know what they're getting into—unlike me! I apologize to all my readers and anyone/everyone who has been waiting so patiently for an update and encouraging me these past several years. I can't believe I started this story over three years ago! Unfortunately, my health has taken a severe decline over the past few months, and I don't have the energy to continue just now. I may at some point be in a better position to 'take the helm' again, but that is something I would work out with whomever takes over. I'll close this out with a prayer that somebody contacts me so that this story can be finished, and that you, the reader, continue reading with the new author. Remember, I will still be a part of this!!


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